Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) faced an eruption of rage from Tea Party activists at a town hall meeting Tuesday for his decision to work with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on climate change and clean energy legislation.

At a Greenville, South Carolina town hall, angry attendees called Graham a “traitor,” of “going to bed with John Kerry,” and making a “pact with the devil.”

The extreme reaction mirrors the sentiment perpetuating through the conservative blogosphere, where Graham’s legislative endeavors have led him to be labeled a “Democrat in drag,” a “wussypants,” and a “half-a-sissy,” among other things.

I don’t know about you all, but I find the term “half-a-sissy” to be head-scratchingly confusing, yet simultaneously chock full of awesome. Should you be even more insulted at apparently not being sissy enough to be labeled a “full sissy”? Or is being “half-a-sissy” somehow more insulting than being a “full sissy”?

I mean, what exactly is the hierarchy of sissy insults, and can Michael Steele help clarify this in anyway, preferably with a spankin’ new “not even really a web site” web site that grew up on the mean, mean streets? And are there GOPers out there who the wingnuts would consider “three quarters-a-sissy”? Maybe even “a full sissy and a half”?

What a great article about Bitsy. I hope that this article helps her win this week.
Earlier John mentioned that he was sterilizing with bleach and other stuff. Dogs are quite sensitive to odors so don’t overdo.

What a great article on Bitsy. Hope the community steps in to give her a boost.

Ahem. I will have you know Mr. Cole, that I have only missed one day’s vote when I was no where near, anywhere, I could get to a computer. Amazing those places in the US still exist, but the little local library I’d counted on was full system down that day. I even have my spouse registered to vote. Of course he never remembers so I vote Bitsy for him on his machine. We’re pulling our weight around here. With 7 rescue dogs of my own at the moment, it’d be darned hard to forget.

The very simple, easy-to-understand rules are right next to Bitsy’s photo on the VOTE page. John knows the rules. He’s just being coy, or crabby, or something in his top post.

If we’d all voted every single day since we started pimping her way back in week 6, we wouldn’t have to harass all y’all so often to VOTE.
Isn’t it a tad more productive and fulfilling than bashing people all day long?
No?
Never mind then. As you were.

@asiangrrlMN: This was aimed at the rock salt thread, of course. Sneaky DougJ slid another post in there, quick-like. At least the rock salt thread was funny until the second-most annoying BJ troll came out to grunt.

I just sent the article to friends of mine. Maybe this is the week. Bitsy already has over a thousand votes and a few more can only help.

@Laura W: lol John’s been great reminding us. Maybe next year we can vote for Lily.
If there are any posters from the Great Orange Satan here, they could write a post including the article. Bitsy would win for sure then.

Looks like the local spray-paint sales restrictions are having some effect on the teenage Masshole morans, and they’ve run out of cemeteries to vandalize. Srsly, there are going to be some angry parents out there once the Secret Service explains that ‘kids blowing off steam’ can still be prosecuted for property damage, hate crimes, and/or wasting the time of people with better things to do.

I don’t know about you all, but I find the term “half-a-sissy” to be head-scratchingly confusing, yet simultaneously chock full of awesome. Should you be even more insulted at apparently not being sissy enough to be labeled a “full sissy”? Or is being “half-a-sissy” somehow more insulting than being a “full sissy”?

I think this is the correct interpretation. It’s sort of like, “You suck too much(/are too much of a sissy?!) to even go full-sissy; you just half ass it.” Chock full of awesome and paradox (and nuts?).

You know, I’ve never hated Lindsey Graham as he’s just more-or-less your typical politician, not a total whackjob, but I think I’m actually drifiting towards having a lot of sympathy for him, maybe even liking him. Here’s a guy who, just for not being a total wingnut, is drawing the ire of his party. Also, let’s not forget he was saying we should think about nationalizing the banks when the Obama administration was actively discounting that idea. Hell, lately, except on health care reform, he’s been more “liberal” (by which I mean center/center-right) than the Blue Dogs. If it didn’t seem so implausible for a South Carolinian, I’d think we were looking at another Arlen Specter-style defector in the making.

@JK: Jimmy Kimmel is dating some one on his staff and as far as I know, he did not say anything about Letterman. Somehow, I missed the discussion about Kimmel’s affair on NBC or ABC. Can we say double standard anyone? In all fairness I don’t think that the Letterman or the Kimmel story is anyone’s business but it does seem odd that the stations did not cover this. Can we say ratings.
Quinnipiac University should stay mum. Geee!

For any Tom Waits fans out there, you can get 8 songs from his new album for free. It’s a live album of his 2008 “Glitter and Doom” tour. My decision not to go see him at the gorgeous Alabama Theatre in Birmingham is one of the worst live music decisions I’ve ever made (but sadly, not the only one).

@JK: John Nichols’ sour grapes come from the fact that the Nation will never be considered news either. Watching John Nichols complain about Fox’s treatment is like watching a guy in the lower middle class complaining about taxes on the wealthy because he’s hoping to some day become wealthy. Someone should tell him to get over himself. It’s not going to happen.

It’s funny that the repeated entreaties to Vote for Bitsy are what finally caused an emotional reaction strong enough for me to want to post a comment, but I’m just going to point out the elephant in the room: If we’re dealing in superlatives like “cutest,” here, Bitsy isn’t even in the ballpark — maybe the Pirates’ ballpark, but not, like, a real ballpark with a real team.

I mean, I can’t be the only one. ONLY 1,000 votes so far? What’s that work out to? 8-10 votes per entreaty? Pretty low conversion rate. My theory: We progressives and liberals that frequent your site are, I have to believe, a principled lot. Unlike our counterparts on the other side of the aisle, we don’t cynically abandon our principles because some party big wig tells us to. At the same time, we’re also nice, so it’s up to me to be an asshole and say out loud what everyone, based on the paltry vote totals, must be thinking.

I’m sure Bitsy’s owner is a lovely person, who truly loves her dog. Had she entered her in, say, a “Sweetest Dog” competition, I would have considered voting based on her doleful eyes. But I am not going to vote for a dog who is — I’ll be generous — in the 58th percentile of dogs as far as cuteness for the title of “Cutest Dog” just because someone — I’ll be generous again — “asks” me to. That’s the road to Sarah Palin, if you ask me.

If Bitsy doesn’t win, it’ll be a testament to your readers’ convictions and independence. So you can be proud either way.

@JK: As you’ve probably guessed, I am not a huge Springsteen fan, but I like both these songs, especially Badlands. The Santana songs are fabulous.
@Penfold: No sympathy have I for Graham. He is pro-rape. I don’t want him in my party or any of the other male Republicans who currently reside in the Senate.

If it weren’t for the fact that news orgs rate with the public somewhere just north of used car salesmen, I might be worried. Fortunately, I’m not. If CNN or the Nation, or any other news outlets wants to lay down with snakes, that’s their business. Some anti-venom might be wise however.

@PETE: Read the link to the story, Pete. It’s not a vanity contest. Look at the previous winners on the contest site. Check out the winner named for Stephen Colbert. Not my idea of “cute”. Won primarily due to the CNN coverage of the battle between him and Mozart.

This is a grass roots effort to get a dog who was emaciated and left by the side of the road with a broken leg into the money circle so that any dollars earned can fund the rescue work of a woman who works real estate, full-time, to fund her rescue work. For FIFTY YEARS.

If you are the dog lover you say you are, you will re-think your hasty proclamation. Unless you were snarking. But even in that case, it still is not funny. If it bugs you, ignore the posts. Don’t vote if you find her so un-cute your conscience forbids it. But at the very least, take a minute to grasp the larger overview and absorb the ultimate goal here, which is to try to find the funds to found and support a non-profit animal rescue group in Western North Carolina. More than a quarter of a million animals die in North Carolina shelters annually, twice the national average.

@JK: I read the column. To the extent that he criticizes the incredible clumsiness of the administration playing That Man Behind the News Curtain, I agree. And it is certainly true that newspapers have always been vicious to political figures. I have read parts of the book “American Aurora” about the Revolutionary era paper he mentions (at over 900 pages, the book is too big for me to finish in my copious spare time), and the paper was the Fox News of its day. I don’t know whether Obama appearing with the Fox News Werewolf Team would have a positive result, but I would expect it to result in a gold mine of out-of-context quotes for the Right to bludgeon him with. And I don’t believe for a nanosecond his assertion “If the Fox interviewers are absurdly unfair, the American people will respond with appropriate consternation.” That would only happen in a parallel universe. So I guess I partly agree, partly disagree, and partly don’t know. I hope that such a wishy-washy take doesn’t get me ostracized by the BJ slash-and-burn opinion team.

@freelancer: They separated quite a while ago. I love Sarah Silverman and think that both Kimmel and Letterman are great. The Letterman crap though is strictly because of ratings on NBC’s part. GMC and ABC have been doing a pretty good job too.

That’s catchy. I basically agree with your sentiments. I don’t think it’s wishy washy either. I think Newton’s 3rd law of motion is worth considering regarding the Obama Fox News feud: To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If any an Obama staffer’s criticism of Fox News generates counterattacks from Fox News’ rivals MAYBE the strategy is counter productive and should be reconsidered.

I think the country and the world are basically fucked up beyond repair and will remain that way despite the best intentions and efforts of Obama. Thanks to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, etc there’ll be plenty laughs as the planet plunges further and further down the drain.

I think the country and the world are basically fucked up beyond repair and will remain that way become even moreso despite the best intentions and efforts of Obama. Thanks to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, etc there’ll be plenty laughs as the planet plunges further and further down the drain.

I would love to have a discussion with you about this over a beer (if you’re a member of the proletariat) or a glass of fine wine (if you’re an effete elitist snob).

Thank you, thank you for all your votes for Little Bitsy!
Only two more weeks of voting for the chance to get her into the top 12!
She might not be the “cutest” dog (don’t tell her!) but that’s really not what this is all about.

At a Greenville, South Carolina town hall, angry attendees called Graham a “traitor,” of “going to bed with John Kerry,” and making a “pact with the devil.”

I remember once upon a time, not too long ago, it was normal for Democratic and GOP senators to work together. It was considered a smart way to help legislation pass. Now, thanks to the diseased level of discourse the wingnuts have gifted us with, it makes you a ‘traitor’.

At first, I thought you were linking to Genesis the group whom I also don’t like, but then I realized my mistake. Great song! I don’t care as much for the second song, but Chicago is another guilty pleasure of mine.

I’m a big fan of Genesis under the leadership of Peter Gabriel. Post-Gabriel Genesis doesn’t interest me so much, but Turn It On Again totally kicks ass IMHO.

I thought you might like Genesis by Jorma because you liked Father and Son by Cat Stevens and I Got a Name by Jim Croce. For me, these songs create a similar vibe and I can’t listen to one without thinking of the others.

Questions 67 & 68 is my favorite Chicago song. Before they pursued a more pop oriented path, I think Chicago produced some great music. Jimi Hendrix was a big Terry Kath fan and a recording engineer who worked with most of the big acts from the 60’s once said that the best live performances he’d ever seen came from Chicago and the Who.

@Chad N Freude: That’s true. And a good point. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be taken as seriously as Fox is. Or at least as seriously as even-the-liberal-New-Republic. And they are not. Which is too bad, but that certainly won’t change by people continuing to take Fox seriously.

Has anyone else been following the story of Rush Limbaugh trying to buy the Rams? I find it hilarious that this guy who makes GOP senators piss in their pants is actually quite hated by the vast majority of right thinking people.

In an impulsive act of unforgivable dickishness, I cleaned up that quote because I thought some female readers might take offense. I’m also a hypocrite, because I’ve never for a nanosecond thought of writing Forget the Yankees instead of Fuck the Yankees. But Walt Whitman contradicted himself too, so maybe I’m in good company.

I haven’t seen Michael Moore’s latest, but it supposedly reports the practice of corporations taking out life insurance policies on employees without their knowledge. I admit this is creepy, but how can it be profitable? As Mad Magazine once pointed out, a life insurance policy is a “bet” that you are going to die, and insurance companies (also capitalist and evil) are very good at making sure the odds are in the house’s favor. So how does this make sense?

Has anyone else been following the story of Rush Limbaugh trying to buy the Rams? I find it hilarious that this guy who makes GOP senators piss in their pants is actually quite hated by the vast majority of right thinking people.

I think the media has been very desirous that a white conservative do well. They’re interested in white conservative radio show hosts and prospective NFL owners doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in Rush and he got a lot of credit for possible ownership of a team that he really didn’t deserve.

Pissing someone off by saying/doing something I felt was inoffensive as a substitute to something I thought was offensive is not unfamiliar terrain for me. I hope to make greater progress in this area or slash my wrists.

My theory: We progressives and liberals that frequent your site are, I have to believe, a principled lot. Unlike our counterparts on the other side of the aisle, we don’t cynically abandon our principles because some party big wig tells us to. At the same time, we’re also nice, so it’s up to me to be an asshole and say out loud what everyone, based on the paltry vote totals, must be thinking…

Dude, if you intended to produce a parody of FDL-type Correct Thinking Commentary, this is moderately brilliant. But if you’re just being painfully earnest, may I suggest that your irony meter needs re-setting?

@Just Some Fuckhead: and to add to your point, I think folks would be pleased to see Rush own a team with only white conservative players cuz we would cheer them on just cuz we could. Maybe they could play Oakland first.

I remember once upon a time, not too long ago, it was normal for Democratic and GOP senators to work together. It was considered a smart way to help legislation pass. Now, thanks to the diseased level of discourse the wingnuts have gifted us with, it makes you a ‘traitor’.

And what does it say about the state of the Republican Party that the base can turn so quickly and viciously on someone like Lindsey Graham and elicit even the faintest amount of sympathy for him as he tries to do something actually productive for once in his life?

I mean, there’s nothing that can actually make me feel bad, pity, or sympathy for that devil, but if that situation doesn’t indicate how epically disastrous (for “conservatives”)/mind-bogglingly awesome (for sane folks) the 2010 midterm election process is going to be, well then, I don’t know what could. For all the talk about Republican comebacks, it’s going to be like fucking Lord of The Flies in a few months, when things really swing into gear.

Those fuckers are going to eat each other alive, from the opening gun to the final whistle. And I, for one, am going to fucking love it.

Personally, I’m excited to see what comes out of that moran’s mouth the day after the NFL rejects his bid. I’m sure we could get a good game of speculation about what kind of ignorant nonsense he’s going to spew. \

how can this be publicized—widely—beyond the self-stroking BJ commentariat?

Well, since we don’t have our own Drudge, we have to use sockpuppets to ask a few leading questions on WaPo Chat like “Do you agree with Rush Limbaugh when he says black people should be kept as slaves on plantations so the streets are safe at night?” When they flounder around with typically lame answers, DougJ will post about it on Balloon-Juice frontpage and then a couple of the bigger blogs point at it, then Josh over at TPM starts beating the drum slowly, but persistently. Then FDL and a couple of the shrill blogs lose their fucking minds over it. Then Joe Klein weighs in on it and explains why it isn’t as bad as it seems but it’s still way way over the line.

@gnomedad: One of the sleazier ideas of the Jack Abramoff/Ralph Reed cabal was for certain Indian tribes to buy life insurance on old tribal members so that the tribes could collect the payouts and afford to pay the Abramoff lobbying fees. The lobbying was over gambling issues & Abramoff was lobbying both sides…just unbelievably sleazy. p.s. the tribes refused the idea. Somebody needs to do a movie on these &%$@#.

@JK: If you would like to discuss how to bring this about, e-mail me at chadnfreude@mailinator.com. It’s a mail anonymizer, and messages evaporate after some unspecified number of hours, but I’ll check it at random intervals. If you send a message and don’t get a response, try again. I have to leave now to preserve the tiny shreds of sanity I have left.

In an impulsive act of unforgivable dickishness, I cleaned up that quote because I thought some female readers might take offense. I’m also a hypocrite, because I’ve never for a nanosecond thought of writing Forget the Yankees instead of Fuck the Yankees. But Walt Whitman contradicted himself too, so maybe I’m in good company.

I do not watch Mad Men. To be honest, even if I had cable, I would not watch.

I admire your will power. With all the intense critical buzz it’s been receiving, I thought your curiosity might have gotten the best of you and you’d say to yourself “I have to check out this show that so many critics are raving about it and which has attracted such a loyal following.”

I use wordpress.org. Any idea how I can embed it?

Sorry, I don’t know how to embed it. I have no experience using any blogging sofware. I think it’s good for a blog to have an email contact. It’s handy if you have information to disseminate, but you don’t wish to share it with the whole blogosphere.

Actually I live just outside of Chicago, so I have no idea how smart or dumb the place really is. And I’m glad they didn’t get the Olympics, because I’m a pain in the and a crank. So perhaps I should withhold any further opinions I may develop….

I saw that item. At this point, I think these rankings don’t matter much. I feel like I’m surrounded by an avalanche of stupidity pouring forth from the Internet, radio, television, and print. Despite Obama’s election, I see no let up in the volume of rampant stupidity being produced by wingnuts and treated as credible by the Washington Press Corps.

@JK: I strive to be service-y! And am so proud of the three and a half things that I know about blogging that I feel a powerful need to share…!

I’ve been feeling so run down by the news lately, by the way, that I really feel your earlier comment about all the stupidity. I actually spent hours tonight just finding things online that would make me happy, because I was so desperate for a break from the misery. If you would like a break yourself, you are always welcome at my world of fun things and online relief….

The fact that I forgot the word “ass” in my last comment suggests to me, however, that I must go to bed (too tired to curse? Bedtime!). So I’m off. It was brief but lovely, Balloon Juice!